Wireless telecommunication networks generally allow mobile devices to communicate with each other and other networks, such as the Internet and the public switched telephone network. First and second generation wireless telephone systems are generally constrained in the amount of bandwidth available for communication. This limits capacity and also the types of services that can be provided. Third generation wireless systems, which are being developed through the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), hold the promise of greater bandwidth, thereby increasing capacity and allowing for enhanced services, such as multimedia services. 3GPP is the new worldwide standard for the creation, delivery, and playback of multimedia over new, high-speed wireless networks. 3GPP enables the free sharing of multimedia files between a variety of devices, including wireless phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), and desktop computers. 3GPP devices include, in addition to a voice communication interface, capability for communication of data and display of data, including video.
Various features and services have been developed and made available to wireless customers. For example, voicemail systems, which are well known, allow callers the option to leave voicemail messages for parties who are unavailable. In order to leave a message, the caller is typically prompted to enter a command on a keypad of a handset or wait for a specified tone, or both. The voicemail system then records the voicemail message for a predetermined amount of time or until the caller ends the call. Multimedia mail is the exchange of messages consisting of at least two media within a message using the mail transport service. Proposed third generation (3G) wireless systems will permit wireless users the capability to leave multimedia messages in multimedia mail systems similar to that of voicemail systems.
Wireless service providers also offer caller identification (ID) services, which are well known, for their customers. Caller ID is the identification of the originating subscriber line. The transmission of the caller ID generally takes place between the first and second ring. The information sent includes the date, time, and calling number. The name associated with the calling number is sometimes included also. Since the time caller ID was first made available it has been expanded to offer caller ID on call waiting as well. With caller ID on call waiting, the call waiting tone is heard and the identification of the second call may be displayed on the called party's device.
Wireless customers are also able to activate voice greetings (and soon multimedia greetings) that are played when the subscriber is not available to answer the call. Nonetheless, wireless customers are not able to personalize for different callers their outgoing voice and/or multimedia messages through their voicemail/multimedia mail system. Thus, a need exists for a method and system for allowing a subscriber to personalize outgoing voicemail and/or multimedia mail messages for different calling parties based upon their caller ID in a multimedia telecommunications network.